When used in combination with raster scanning, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) has proven to be a valuable imaging technique of the nanoscale, for example of bone, teeth and brain matter. Although two-dimensional projection imaging has been used to characterize various materials successfully, its three-dimensional extension, SAXS computed tomography, poses substantial challenges, which have yet to be overcome. Previous work using SAXS computed tomography was unable to preserve oriented SAXS signals during reconstruction. Here we present a solution to this problem and obtain a complete SAXS computed tomography, which preserves oriented scattering information. By introducing virtual tomography axes, we take advantage of the two-dimensional SAXS information recorded on an area detector and use it to reconstruct the full three-dimensional scattering distribution in reciprocal space for each voxel of the three-dimensional object in real space. The presented method could be of interest for a combined six-dimensional real and reciprocal space characterization of mesoscopic materials with hierarchically structured features with length scales ranging from a few nanometres to a few millimetres--for example, biomaterials such as bone or teeth, or functional materials such as fuel-cell or battery components.

The macro- and micro-features of bone can be assessed by using imaging methods. However, nano- and molecular features require more detailed characterization, such as use of e.g., vibrational spectroscopy and X-ray scattering. Nano- and molecular features also affect the mechanical competence of bone tissue. The aim of the present study was to reveal the effects of mineralization and its alterations on the mineral crystal scale, by investigating the spatial variation of molecular composition and mineral crystal structure across the cross-section of femur diaphyses in young rats, and healthy and osteoporotic mature rats (N=5). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) techniques with high spatial resolution were used at identical locations over the whole cross-section. This allowed quantification of point-by-point information about the spatial distribution of mineral crystal volume. All measured parameters (crystal dimensions, degree of orientation and predominant orientation) varied across the cortex. Specifically, the crystal dimensions were lower in the central cortex than in the endosteal and periosteal regions. Mineral crystal orientation followed the cortical circumference in the periosteal and endosteal regions, but was less well-oriented in the central regions. Central cortex is formed rapidly during development through endochondral ossification. Since rats possess no osteonal remodeling, this bone remains (until old age). Significant linear correlations were observed between the dimensional and organizational parameters, e.g., between crystal length and degree of orientation (R(2)=0.83, p<0.001). Application of SAXS/WAXS provides valuable information on bone nanostructure and its constituents, effects of diseases and, prospectively, mechanical competence.

Quite recently, a method has been presented to reconstruct X-ray scattering tensors from projections obtained in a grating interferometry setup. The original publications present a rather specialised approach, for instance by suggesting a single SART-based solver. In this work, we propose a novel approach to solving the inverse problem, allowing the use of other algorithms than SART (like conjugate gradient), a faster tensor recovery, and an intuitive visualisation. Furthermore, we introduce constraint enforcement for X-ray tensor tomography (cXTT) and demonstrate that this yields visually smoother results in comparison to the state-of-art approach, similar to regularisation.

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BackgroundCurrently, the detection of retained wood is a frequent but challenging task in emergency care. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate improved foreign-body detection with the novel approach of preclinical X-ray dark-field radiography.MethodsAt a preclinical dark-field x-ray radiography, setup resolution and sensitivity for simultaneous detection of wooden and metallic particles have been evaluated in a phantom study. A clinical setting has been simulated with a formalin fixated human hand where different typical foreign-body materials have been inserted. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) have been determined for all test objects.ResultsOn the phantom, the SNR value for wood in the dark-field channel was strongly improved by a factor 6 compared to conventional radiography and even compared to the SNR of an aluminium structure of the same size in conventional radiography. Splinters of wood < 300 μm in diameter were clearly detected on the dark-field radiography. Dark-field radiography of the formalin-fixated human hand showed a clear signal for wooden particles that could not be identified on conventional radiography.Conclusionsx-ray dark-field radiography enables the simultaneous detection of wooden and metallic particles in the extremities. It has the potential to improve and simplify the current state-of-the-art foreign-body detection.

The x-ray dark-field signal measured in grating interferometers is anisotropic, depending on both the beam direction and the grating orientation with respect to the sample. We present a novel general closed-form, continuous forward model of the anisotropic dark-field signal. Furthermore, we derive a discretization using spherical harmonics, leading to a large-scale linear inverse problem. We present first experimental results of a wooden sample, demonstrating marked advantages over previous results, in particular, the resolution of multiple scattering directions in one volume element.

Attenuation based X-ray micro computed tomography (XCT) provides three-dimensional images with micrometer resolution. However, there is a trade-off between the smallest size of the structures that can be resolved and the measurable sample size. In this letter, we present an imaging method using a compact laboratory setup that reveals information about micrometer-sized structures within samples that are several orders of magnitudes larger. We combine the anisotropic dark-field signal obtained in a grating interferometer and advanced tomographic reconstruction methods to reconstruct a six dimensional scattering tensor at every spatial location in three dimensions. The scattering tensor, thus obtained, encodes information about the orientation of micron-sized structures such as fibres in composite materials or dentinal tubules in human teeth. The sparse acquisition schemes presented in this letter enable the measurement of the full scattering tensor at every spatial location and can be easily incorporated in a practical, commercially feasible laboratory setup using conventional X-ray tubes, thus allowing for widespread industrial applications.

We present an X-ray Computed Tomography setup that integrates a seven degrees of freedom robotic arm as a sample holder within an existing laboratory X-ray computed tomography setup. We aim to provide a flexible sample holder that is able to execute non-standard and task-specific trajectories for complex samples. The robotic arm is integrated with a unified software package that allows for path planning, collision detection, geometric calibration and reconstruction of the sample. The calibration is necessary to identify the accurate pose of the sample which deviates from the expected pose due to inaccurate placement of the robotic arm. With our software the user is able to command the robotic arm to execute arbitrary trajectories for a given sample in a safe manner and output its reconstruction to the user. We present experimental results with a circular trajectory where the robotic sample holder achieves identical visual quality compared to a conventional sample holder.